Adiguna's file being reviewed<\/p>\n
Abdul Khalik, The Jakarta Post\/Jakarta<\/p>\n
The prosecutors are still looking over the case file of
\nbusinessman Adiguna Sutowo, the sole suspect in the fatal
\nshooting of a server at a Hilton Hotel bar on Jan. 1.<\/p>\n
Prosecutor Andi Herman said on Wednesday that his team would
\nneed \"a few more days\" to examine the case file, which was
\nresubmitted by the police on Tuesday after being returned once to
\ncorrect some errors made by the police.<\/p>\n
\"If we have no more questions about the case, I think we can
\ndeclare it complete this week. We have no reason to delay the
\npreparations for a case against the suspect, and we should be
\nable to bring it to trial,\" Andi told The Jakarta Post.<\/p>\n
The Jakarta prosecutor's office returned last week the case
\nfile of Adiguna, who eyewitnesses say killed Yohannes Berchmans
\nHaerudy Natong, an employee at the Fluid Bar at the Jakarta
\nHilton International Hotel, where the suspect and his friends
\nwere ringing in the new year.<\/p>\n
The prosecutors found that the eyewitnesses stated that the
\nvictim was shot from less than one meter away, but that did not
\nmatch the results of forensic tests which indicated that he was
\nshot from a slightly farther distance, as there was no gun
\nresidue on the victim's body.<\/p>\n
The prosecutors asked police to submit several other expert
\nstatements to settle the contradiction, in addition to providing
\ninformation on the legal status of the gun and a court document
\non the confiscation of the evidence.<\/p>\n
City Police Chief Insp. Gen. Firman Gani said the officers had
\nfulfilled all of the prosecutors' requirements.<\/p>\n
\"We have completed what we lacked the first time,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Adiguna, who is currently being held at police headquarters,
\nis the son of tycoon Ibnu Sutowo, the former president of state
\noil and gas company Pertamina. His elder brother, Ponco Sutowo is
\na major stakeholder in the Jakarta Hilton.<\/p>\n
He has been charged with Article 338 of the Criminal Code on
\nmurder, which carries a maximum sentence of 15 years in prison,
\nplus Article 1 of Emergency Law No. 12\/1951 on illegal possession
\nof firearms, which carries a maximum sentence of death by firing
\nsquad.<\/p>\n
So far, the police have based their case mainly on eyewitness
\nstatements and some forensic tests, because they were not able to
\nfind the suspect's fingerprints on the gun, which was returned
\nlater by a friend. They did however, find 19 rounds of ammunition
\nin Adiguna's room that matched the gun and the bullet that killed
\nYohannes.<\/p>\n
Responding to people's concerns about Adiguna escaping justice
\ndue to his powerful connections, President Susilo Bambang
\nYudhoyono even got involved and asked the police to investigate
\nthe case thoroughly.<\/p>\n
The police on Wednesday decided to stop their investigation of
\ntwo key witnesses; A friend of Adiguna's, identified only as
\n\"Wwn\", who returned the gun to the police, and Novia \"Tinul\"
\nHerdiana, one of his companions on the night in question, who
\ninitially denied being with Adiguna when the shooting took place.<\/p>\n
\"We are not going to declare 'Wwn' a suspect because he did
\nthe right thing by submitting the gun to us on his own
\ninitiative. It would not be fair if we charged him. We will also
\nconsider stopping the investigation of Tinul,\" Firman said.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/adigunas-file-being-reviewed-1447893297",
"image": ""
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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